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| The stolen maiden: notes about the feminine in the discourse on nationalism Jana Kukaine, Art critic Review of Latvians. Myths and Contexts and Victory Park exhibitions at the Mūkusala Art Salon, 07.08–13.09.2014 | |
| National identity is a contentious and ambivalent concept. there are, however, perhaps too many who consider this phenomenon to be completely safe and obvious. their judgement about the character of some ethnic group often brings banal stereotypes dangerously to the fore. maybe that’s why – at least in the interests of balance – i instinctively try to find arguments to the contrary, and two quotes spring to mind here. one is from literature, where a group of people who got together in little tashoka’s father’s house were outlined in nathalie sarraute’s memoir Childhood. in this community, as the author recalls, even just the mentioning that a person was or wasn’t a jew, or that he was a slav, “was a sign of the darkest reaction, a veritable obscenity....” the second example is from philosophy, namely, ludwig wittgenstein’s dismay that his student and friend norman malcolm had used the phrase “national character” in some argument (malcolm meant the british national character, which, in his opinion, couldn’t be reconciled with the english government’s participation in the assassination attempt against hitler in the autumn of 1939). Of course, one could say that in contemporary pluralistic post-modern society, with its distinct trend toward cosmopolitan equivalence, local features are becoming rare, exotic attributes are becoming a complimentary sign of difference. i don’t want to write about the kinds of contexts in which these attributes are used by politicians in latvia and other countries, which confirms how easily a description of a nation can be adapted for political manipulation, in the same way as the seemingly primitive division of latvian society into “latvians” and “russians” is unacceptable to me. One of the possibilities one can start with nowadays, with this simultaneously both uncomfortable as well as rather comfortable “national identity” concept, is to try to look at it in a historical context, reconstructing some conditions in the origins and life of a society and linking them with current ways of life. in this case, a description of a nationality is freed of a judging note, which can be heard in statements such as “but he’s a russian/latvian”, etc. an approach like this – rousing interest, but not pathetic – was also characteristic of the Latvieši. mīti un konteksti (latvians. myths and contexts) exhibition, which together with arnis balčus’ exhibition Uzvaras parks (Victory Park) could be viewed at the mūkusala art salon. As mentioned in its annotation, the exhibition looks at significant concepts and images in latvian identity, starting from the late 19th century and extending until today. it is no surprise that a significant place among this arsenal of images was devoted specifically to female images, and one of the exhibition’s thematic sections was even called Tautumeita (folk maiden). the exhibition revealed an interesting use of the feminine and masculine principle, which to a large degree conformed to the traditional preconceptions about female and male roles. even though this division of roles has been subject to critical analysis under feminist theory, at the level of everyday consciousness (and especially in such a conservative thing as political rhetoric) it still continues to function “with a mood of imperturbable peace”. | |
 View from Latvians. Myths and Contexts exhibition. 2014 Publicity photo Courtesy of the Mūkusala Art Salon | |
| One shouldn’t complain about a lack of female images in visual art, especially in classical art. for male artists, often enough they have symbolised what they are striving for but cannot reach, stimulating sexual, political or economic interest. however, placed in a national patriotic context, female images gain a different dimension of meaning, which i’d like to examine closer. in the works that can be seen in the exhibition, these images symbolise that which, in their intolerable jargon, a political party has called a “latvian latvia”. even though the terms “fatherland” and “native land” are seemingly coded in a masculine way, they are still, in their essence, feminine. namely, a whole string of traditional preconceptions about the feminine can be attributed to them. the land of one’s birth is beautiful and enticing (foreign powers desire it), generous and giving (here motherly traits are added to the feminine concept, which correspond with the lush meadows and fertile fields) and, at the same time – which is quite material – it is inert, powerless and passive. those who will enjoy the fruits of the lush fields are determined by males, let’s say, Lāčplēsis (a latvian mythical hero), who is portrayed in helēna heinrihsone’s work agrs rīts. Lāčplēša dzimšana (early morning. the birth of lāčplēsis). in the context of the exhibition, the work is directly linked with the “national awakening” and independence ideas of the 1980s. it is up to Lāčplēsis and other males/heroes to care for and guard their land of birth as well as prevent it from falling under the domination of a foreign power. in other words, the land of one’s birth, in a similar way to a female, becomes a possession, a prize or a trophy for the winner. The similarity between the national political and traditional patriarchal rhetoric continues to be expanded on in balčus’ Uzvaras parks cycle of photographs. it hardly needs to be stated that Uzvaras piemineklis (Victory monument) itself displays a division in gender roles, highlighting the land of birth–motherly axis, which i already mentioned and to which i will still return. if one of the Latvieši exhibition’s thematic cornerstones is the myth about “one’s nook, one’s little corner”, which is a confirmation of belonging and self-dependence and is in tandem with the other myth about the individualism and seclusion of the latvian “character”, then it is significant that diametrically opposed concepts appear in balčus’ works, which are dedicated mainly to the non-citizen issue and the interpretation of Uzvaras piemineklis inspired by soviet ideology – the huge may 9th celebrations making one think about cravings for collectivism – whereas the image of the maritim Park Hotel, which is repeated in a number of photographs, is like a signpost to the non-existence of this “one’s little corner”, replacing it with “the kind of motel” that is only meant for short-term visits. in this context, one could say that the female-prostitute image emerges with a logical necessity. it is a female whose “honour has been violated”, who is accessible to anyone. in the same way, one could say, that it is the female who has lost her guardian, whose national army was defeated by the opponents. as pointed out by feminist anthropological researcher sherry b. ortner in her essay “the Virgin and the state”, the linking of the concept of female honour with the “purity” of society or some sections of it is an amazingly widely occurring view. to protect this “honour”, a wide network of prohibitions was created, which regulated a woman’s social and, especially, sexual behaviour. the image of the prostitute in this context means both ignoring prohibitions as well as the theft of honour, which, moreover, has happened not once but is done regularly, becoming a symbol for a lost land. in other words, it corresponds to the imagined scene in which the fields of one’s land of birth are ploughed by the invader from a foreign land. The idea that a female’s sexuality does not belong to her but is instead a publicly discussable issue, therefore, an issue of significance within society, is deeply rooted in the most diverse opinion systems. in our latitudinal and cultural “degrees” the most striking example could be the christian church’s prohibition of a female having sexual relations before marriage. to a large degree, the discussion in favour of and against abortion is also linked with this theme, as well as the marked asymmetry in the position, if the discussion is about male sexual activity and sexual violence, which in some classical visual art scenes is poetically called “the theft”. therefore, to protect the purity of females/the land of one’s birth, the image of the soldier is more than apt, and in balčus’ photographs this feminine–masculine contrast is reduced to absurdity; alongside the naked women, one can also see here uniformed officers and generals bedecked with medals, creating a classical object–subject pair. The opposite of the demonised image of the prostitute, against whom society’s condemnation and scorn is directed, is the angelic mother image, which enjoys respect and appreciation. the idealisation of the symbolic mother has ancient roots. the ones more understandable and closer to us can be sought in christianity, where the cultivated our lady cult in the western art tradition has provided a significant arsenal of madonna images. a meditative contemplation, infinite tenderness and a self-sufficient peace usually dominate the treatment of the subject. i hope to focus on the concepts that influenced the construction of a certain image of the mother in western culture in more detail at another time, but this time i’ll just point out an obvious fact – to imagine that this kind of privileged status could be attained by any mother is more than naïve. the powerful control of a female’s sexuality also determined in what way and from whom children should be conceived. i cannot recall where i once read that the Victory monument ensemble was expressed ambiguously – if, on the entry of the soviet army, mothers with babies hurried to meet it – then from whom were these children conceived? but obviously, the mother–land of birth link is so tight, that such “trivial” considerations are unable to sever it (even though in the literature, for example, the circumstances of birthrates in the “confusion of war” are a rich topic for the portrayal of niggling relationships and destinies.) | |
 View from Arnis Balčus’ Victory Park exhibiton. 2014 Publicity photo Courtesy of the artist and the Mūkusala Art Salon | |
| Without a doubt, mothers have a significant role in the creation of a certain national identity. by this i mean the un-reflected world that they pass on to the next generation. it is said that something is “sucked in together with mother’s milk”, and this metaphor is very accurate. this role of the female is analysed by ortner in her essay “is female to male as nature is to culture?” noting that the female anatomy, which prescribes a determined experience of bringing a child into the world and the breast-feeding practice deriving from it, “ingrains” women into living at home, where, most often, they also become the first teacher for their offspring. in this stage, they subject their children, who behave more akin to animals, to their first socialisation, bringing them into the sphere of culture and “laying the foundations” for their communication skills. later, though, when the children reach a certain age, the education of girls and boys may start to differ. girls are gradually prepared for home life and the role of wife and mother at the time when boys are presented with their cultural inheritance, encouraging them to not only learn the existing canons but to also make new discoveries. therefore, it is significant that the higher the level of education and the level of culture to be acquired, the more male teachers appear: if in kindergarten there are nearly all female teachers, then the male labour force dominates at universities. National identity, in its un-reflected stage, can be learned in the first years of life, namely, as special eating, dressing and celebratory customs, which are also joined by the “native” language, which is closely connected with the forms of female life because women are the ones who prepare food, clothes, prepare for celebrations and talk to their little children, simultaneously teaching them to form relationships with their neighbours as well. this – alongside the lush fields or potentially fertilisable womb metaphor – is yet another thing that strengthens the mother–land of birth correlation in national patriotic discourse, which is displayed in visual art as well as in monumental sculpture and which was also clearly confirmed in both of the salon exhibitions mentioned. Now, after examining some traditional attributes of femininity, linking them with the concept of national identity, it’s time to pose the question of would our views change, and to what degree, if we changed these rhetorical figures? with what sort of speeches would our politicians present themselves, what sort of arguments would they use? i have to admit that i don’t have unequivocal and exhaustive answers to these questions nor are they provided by the works of art that can be viewed at the salon exhibitions. it’s possible that the answer belongs to some future utopia, where a person’s gender, nationality and origins will create for us yet-unknown constellations of meaning and practices. Translator into English: Uldis Brūns | |
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